Hollywood Deep

Friday’s WGA rally drew more than 3,000 picketers to Avenue of the Stars in Century City

Friday off because of the strike, Eva shopping at Sunset Plaza

We entered week two of the Writer’s Guild of America strike today. So it took a week to find out that Ellen DeGeneres is full of sh*t. The WGA East Friday came out swinging against the talk-show host Friday, who is alone among the comedy/variety topliners to return to work during the week-old walkout, proclaiming that she wasn’t welcome in New York for her planned Thanksgiving-week tapings in the Big Apple. I distinctly remember last week reading that Ellen along with most other talk show hosts were first to honor the WGA strike, and shut down production of their shows. Hmmmmm… maybe someone just assumed that she would, and wrote it down. Or more likely, Ellen was vague enough about what side she was on, for anyone to draw a real conclusions. Now we know, and the whole industry knows, ELLEN IS A SCAB.

Meanwhile, Jay Leno’s refusal to cross the picket lines is leading his show’s producers to consider using guest hosts and other alternatives. WOW… can they do that? Find scab hosts and do the show without Jay. I thought Jay had a little more clout and control of his show. These are times when you see just who are really pulling the strings in Hollywood. I guess it’s like the when the Football players went on strike and the NFL used replacement players. I suppose you can always find someone ,who will do anything to get their big chance. So look for the networks to start pulling comedians off the street to fill in for hosts who won’t cross the line. Carrot Top hosting the Tonight Show? I can hear Johnny’s bones rattling just at the thought.

In other strike developments, Warner Bros. TV became the latest studio Friday to send out suspension letters to its writers, informing them that their pay is being put on hold because of the strike. All the studios and networks will follow suit in sending out these letters. Even the crews who are not on strike, have to be officially laid off without pay. The crews especially are now available to go find other work, on movies and commercials that are not effected. There will be no guarantee that these crafts people, and technicians will be available to the shows once the strike is over.

Here’s an update of what’s left of your TV shows new episodes.

“House“ with six episodes left, will be fresh through November, with the last few airing in January — one of them following Fox’s broadcast of the Super Bowl.

“Samantha Who?”, ABC’s new hit comedy, has eight episodes in the can.

The “Crime Scene Investigation” trio, “NCIS,” “Criminal Minds,” “Without a Trace” and “Cold Case” each have three to six more episodes to run on CBS.

CBS’ comedies (“How I Met Your Mother,” “The Big Bang Theory,” “Two And a Half Men,” “Rules of Engagement”) will run dry by month’s end.

ABC’s “Ugly Betty,” “Pushing Daisies” and “Grey’s Anatomy” each have four new episodes to go.

“Desperate Housewives” airs the last of its current stock of new episodes December 2.

The final new episode of NBC’s “Heroes” airs December 3.

“The Office” will head into rerun mode on NBC after next week’s episode. Among other things, shooting has stopped because star Steve Carell won’t cross picket lines.

The planned January return of Fox’s “24″ has been postponed indefinitely. Since only some of the series’ 24 episodes have been shot, Fox didn’t want to risk beginning a new season that might be interrupted.

One thing I know right now, is all these shows are done, and all these people are out of work. This strike is effecting thousands of hard working people. Not just TV stars, actors, and writers, who might be able to afford to be out for a while. People with kids to feed and mortgages are not working, and last I heard no one was talking. No negotiations have officially taken place since the strike was announced. At this point the Producers will put off negotiations until next month as companies use “force majeure” clauses to negate term deals and reduce actors’ paychecks. Because force majeure clauses usually require six weeks after a strike has started to kick in, there’s a lurking suspicion that the companies won’t push for a quick return to the bargaining table.
…That Ain’t Right DEEP!

WGA adjusted Picket Line hours to start at 5:45 am this week, to stop Teamsters

Technorati Tags: WGA rally, Writer’s Guild of America, Ellen DeGeneres, WGA East, Thanksgiving, Jay Leno, Hollywood, NFL, Carrot Top, Tonight Show, , Warner Bros. TV, House, Fox, Super Bowl, “Samantha Who?”, ABC, “Crime Scene Investigation”, CBS, “How I Met Your Mother, ” “The Big Bang Theory, ” “Two And a Half Men, ” “Rules of Engagement”, “Ugly Betty, ” “Pushing Daisies” and “Grey’s Anatomy”, “Desperate Housewives”, NBC, “Heroes”, “The Office”, Steve Carell, “24″